Designed by Cox Architecture with H&E Architects and delivered by Etymon Projects, Walker Street Precinct in North Sydney welcomes four new hospitality venues in one, with Una Providore, Sol Bread and Wine, Soluna and Genzo set to bolster North Sydney’s budding appeal as a gastronomical hub. 

Cox’s newly unveiled culinary neighbourhood in Walker Street Precinct’s podium adds to the community-centric atmosphere of the Woods Bagot-designed residential buildings already on site.

The four new hospitality venues seek to function as a one-stop shop for fresh produce, artisan pastries, gourmet deli goods, and hopefully a beloved dining choice for the area in the near future. Cox director and IDEA judge Brooke Lloyd explains how Etymon Projects anticipates the four stand-alone venues will put the neighbourhood on the map. 

“Our client Etymon sought to entice people from further afield to visit North Sydney,” she says.

Lloyd also says an overarching goal of the design was to ensure the venue easily blend into the streetscape. “There is a common neighbourhood spirit that is imbued within each space,” she says. 

The new dwellings are marked by a “relaxed and easy feeling like they’ve been there for years”.

A harmonious blend of design excellence, operations and food 

The design process for the hospitality precinct began in mid-2021 to align with Woods Bagot’s architecture program and allow for any modifications to the base build to be seamlessly integrated. Lloyd says the four venues were conceptualised simultaneously to guarantee “interplay between each across design and menu”.

The Cox team was thankful for the shell Woods Bagot provided. “[Woods Bagot] provided a very rational and considered architectural base. It was designed as an integrated fitout so there was an opportunity for a conversation between architecture and interiors,” says Lloyd. 

Lloyd also celebrates Cox’s longstanding collaborative relationship with Etymon Projects, particularly as CEO Lisa Hobbs prioritises achieving a sustained balance between “design, operations and food” in projects.

Una Providore 

Una Providore is a 110-square-metre space akin to a contemporary alimentari. Patrons will revel in shopping for Italian olive oil, artisanal meats and cheeses and boutique wine.

The material palette is robust and restrained and a framework of plywood shelving, brick tiles and blackened steel heroes the rich and abundant produce. The interiors work to advertise the powers of modularity and the awe of repetition.

“The design was intended to be quite rustic, articulated in brick, steel and plywood, sitting quietly against the colourful cacophony of produce,” says Lloyd. 

Sol Bread and Wine

A warm and lively 127-square-metre all-day dining space is promised for patrons of Sol Bread and Wine. Cox’s design sought to express a sense of larger-than-life Italian modernism via a carved timber bar and full-height timber shelving presenting bread and wine. Lloyd cites a particular appreciation for the space’s inclusion of a “punchy red stair.”

“Sol has a very loud marble floor in contrasting tones, punctuated by a Venetian red spiral stair,” she says. “The furniture is finished in pistachio and espresso tones and the bar acts as a solid centrepiece adorned with a circular motif carved into a timber face.”

Soluna

Soluna is big in scale and feeling. The 200-seat and 738 square-metre venue reimagines a Los Angeles-inspired coastal tone within the context of North Sydney. Lloyd says the interiors “play with the idea of tropical brutalism” by pairing lurid greenery and whimsical settings with concrete architecture. 

The open kitchen is guarded by a monolithic green masonry bar that transports guests to the seaside. Art and marble tabletops, vivid in colour, are paired with eccentric furniture and lighting to create a cool and sleek aesthetic.

Genzo 

Genzo’s interiors aspire towards celebrating the creative similarities and differences between Japanese tradition and counterculture – initially gained when first stepping into the 246-square-metre venue.

“We liked the idea of the welcome being emblematic of the creative tension between tradition and counterculture,” says Lloyd. “A traditional Japanese door, monolithic and pure in solid timber and geometric stone, has iridescent signage sitting atop that acts as a cheeky counterpoint [by] constantly changing colour – in contrast to the solidity of the stone and timber below.”

Noodles and raw dishes are served to diners from an open kitchen that is alive with energy and excitement – an excitement further enhanced by an electric pink sake room with a metallic turquoise bar. Softened lighting on the backlit ceiling juxtaposes against the colourful chaos of the open kitchens. Flashes of changing coloured lights evoke scenes reminiscent of Tokyo Times Square.

Lloyd also says a particular section of the ceiling communicates the contrast between order and transgression in culture. “A ceiling junction between an acoustic spray treatment looks light and fluffy like marshmallow and a backlit Barrisol panel,” she explains. “The juxtaposition of materials and textures was a critical part of the design.”

Distinctive yet cohesive design 

Lloyd underscores the value that the four stand-alone venues will bring to the Walker Street Precinct. Cox’s design demonstrates the possibilities of crafting a space wherein each venue has a unique yet complementary design. 

“There is no common design thread, but there is a common neighbourhood spirit that is imbued within each space,” she says. 

Photography by Alec Bruce Mason. 

Featured Image: Soluna at Walker Street Precinct.

Food, art and place collide at COX’s Poetica.